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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23068354">Instinctual Comfort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending'>Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Kobolds Purr, So Does Hamid, Spoilers for Episode 149</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:28:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>866</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23068354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kobolds are only distantly related to dragons, but then, so is Hamid. Still, it amazes him how being around Skraak seems to bring his dragon instincts to the fore, amplifies his desire to defend, to protect, to guard what is precious to him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan &amp; Skraak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>111</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Instinctual Comfort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>After last episode, Skraak needs all the comfort, and I shall write as much as they need and more.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hamid awakes from a dream where he’s lost among rows of cages, being stared at by hundreds of glowing eyes, and for a moment he thinks he’s still dreaming. He can still hear the low whine of a kobold in distress after all, and that had been a part of his dream, his nightmare, because in the dream he knew it was Skraak, he had to find Skraak…</p>
<p>Skraak is curled up next to him on the bed, curled up so very tightly, making themselves so heartbreakingly small, and all Hamid can think about are the cages, and he knows what Skraak is dreaming about, has been dreaming about since they left that terrible place. Hamid keeps dreaming about it as well, not just frustrating dreams where he’s trying to find Skraak, or where he’s trying to free the other kobolds and the cage doors refuse to open. Sometimes it’s his friends in those cages, their faces blank, their eyes glowing in the dark as Hamid claws desperately at the bars. Other nights he dreams about burning the place to the ground, dreams of dragon fire so hot that the stones melt and the sea boils for leagues, and he wakes up from those dreams with the faint smell of smoke in the air, his skin feeling hot and too tight over his bones, like he’s supposed to be larger, there’s supposed to be more of him.</p>
<p>“Skraak,” Hamid whispers softly, shifting a bit so that he’s sitting up. Sometimes his voice alone is enough to pull Skraak out of a bad dream without waking them. “Skraak, you’re all right. It’s just a dream. I’m here.”</p>
<p>Skraak whines again, somehow managing to coil themselves even tighter. The sight makes Hamid’s heart ache. They had saved all the kobolds that they could, down deep in the underground, but it didn’t undo what had been done to them, didn’t make the memories suddenly disappear. How many of the others were caught in their own dark dreams right now?</p>
<p>“Skraak.” Hamid reaches out to lay a gentle hand on Skraak’s shoulder. Their hide is cool to the touch under Hamid’s hand, lacking its usual warmth, a sign of stress. “Skraak, wake—“</p>
<p>Skraak’s whine changes to a growl without warning and Hamid is only just starting to pull his hand back before Skraak strikes, uncoiling with a quickness Sasha would have envied and appreciated. There’s a flash of pain in Hamid’s arm, followed by the all too familiar sensation of warm blood trickling over his skin, but even as Hamid cries out softly in pain and surprise, he doesn’t look away from Skraak. Skraak, whose eyes and teeth and claws gleam in the moonlight as they snarl at Hamid.</p>
<p>“Skraak?” Hamid’s voice shakes only slightly. “Skraak, it’s me, it’s Hamid.”</p>
<p>Hamid watches as realization fills Skraak’s eyes, as the kobold goes from tense and ready to fight to confused and afraid, curling back in on himself, shoulders hunched and head bowed low. The snarl from a moment ago turns into a low keen, a sound of mourning and fear and sorrow that resonates somewhere deep in Hamid, somewhere past his blood and bones, and pulls him closer to Skraak. He gathers the kobold in his arms, rubbing his cheek against Skraak’s and then resting his chin on the top of Skraak’s head as the kobold hides their face against his chest.</p>
<p>“Sorry,” Skraak hisses, the word just as sibilant in Draconic as it would be in English. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.”</p>
<p>“Shhhh, it’s all right,” Hamid says softly. “It’s all right, you didn’t mean it, you didn’t know. Shhhhhhhh.” The hushing sound becomes something else, something soft and deep that he can feel rumbling in his chest and throat, and he knows instinctually that it’s a sound meant to comfort, meant to soothe and quiet. He feels Skraak’s frantic heartbeat begin to slow, feels Skraak’s skin begin to grow warm again. After awhile, Skraak starts making their own sounds, a soft purr of safety and contentment.</p>
<p>Kobolds are only distantly related to dragons, but then, so is Hamid. Still, it amazes him how being around Skraak seems to bring his dragon instincts to the fore, amplifies his desire to defend, to protect, to guard what is precious to him.</p>
<p>The pain in Hamid’s arm begins to fade as another sensation fights for his attention, an itch between his shoulder blades, an absence which aches. He should be bigger, big enough to wrap around Skraak, big enough to wrap around <i>anyone</i> who needs warmth and calming sounds, should have wings to fold over them, shelter and protection. He has claws that first grew out of him from fear, fire that first kindled within him from rage. Will it be love that gives him wings, grants him a body big enough for his heart?</p>
<p>Eventually Skraak’s purring fades into the gentle breathing that comes with untroubled sleep. Hamid carefully lays back down, Skraak still in his arms, making no move to prestidigitate away the blood that’s drying tacky and cold on the sleeve of his pajamas. It’ll keep until the morning. Instead he closes his eyes, and dreams of what he might become.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m <a href="http://angel-ascending.tumblr.com">angel-ascending</a> over on Tumblr and <a href="http://twitter.com/angel_in_ink">angel_in_ink</a> over on Twitter if y’all want to stop by and say hi!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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